Girl in Distress
by the pace master
Summary: A mysterious, isolated girl in distress; a B-movie that inspires a piece of art; mysterious men in black suits; Shizuo once again trying to kill Izaya...weird things are happening in Ikebukuro... this features Celty, Shizuo, Izaya, Mikado, Kida, etc.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Izaya Orihara, the information broker, escaped certain death yet again. He always thought it was somewhat uncanny how, every time he was in trouble, he could just slip out of it like soap from anyone's angry grip just through sheer luck. Then there were a couple of other people who weren't quite as amused with this fact. One of them was Shizuo Heiwajima, who, in this case, was the person trying to kill him. His failure to do so made the blood inside him boil furiously, but Shizuo refused to revert to being the notoriously violent brawler he was known for. Instead, Shizuo leaned against a brick wall and very angrily lit a cigarette. Then, he cleared his mind of everything except the image of a candle in a pitch-black room, with its delicate flame dancing gracefully on the pure-white wax. This technique apparently helped his boss go through life without punching everyone in the face, and it would supposedly work on Shizuo as well. Surprisingly enough, it was helping him overcome his demons for a respectable amount of time. But then he started to focus on the flame, and how it pranced around in its position. His muscles grew tense, and he thrust his cigarette downwards to the ground. Shizuo shot his foot down against the now-bent cigarette, and scraped it against the pavement in uncontrollable anger. The flame was now Izaya Orihara, who was prancing in front of Shizuo and mocking him. Shizuo launched his fist against the brick wall in front of him. An enormous dent was made where his fist struck. Izaya was now out of reach, and Shizuo had failed to catch him yet again.

Meanwhile, the cheerful morning sun shone straight through the window of Mikado's history class and onto his textbook, which was still open at the contents page. Mikado Ryuugamine tried his hardest to pay attention to the teacher, but he could hardly keep his eyes half-open because of that film he watched last night on TV. The movie was about a girl who had destructive telepathic powers and was under pursuit from a secret organization. Granted, it was one of those stupid B-movies, but that didn't stop the film from giving Mikado nightmares and, as a result, caused his lack of sleep. Mikado wondered if anyone else saw the film last night as well. Anri Sonohara, a very close friend of Mikado's, seemed to be paying very close attention to the lecture, which was fairly typical of her. On the other hand, Kida Masaomi, a childhood friend, seemed to have noticed something just outside the classroom, and Mikado couldn't pinpoint what that was.  
>As soon as the school bell rang and class ended, Kida rushed out of the classroom. Mikado followed him, his curiosity now peaking to new heights.<br>'Mikado!' Kida shouted, in his usual ecstatic tone of voice.  
>'What is it, Kida?' Mikado had just walked under the doorway when he said this.<br>'Can you believe this? I knew this day would come someday, I totally knew it! Look over there!'. Kida promptly pointed down the corridor. Mikado's eyes followed Kida's pointing finger, but his heart skipped a beat when he saw what he was pointing at.  
>"Is...is that...?"<br>"Mikado! Kida!" Erika shouted. As soon as she got close to Kida, she impulsively launched herself towards him and they hugged. Mikado's eyes darted towards the two of them. He had so many questions now, and he didn't know which to ask himself first. Walker followed not far behind. He was dragging along a large, cloth-covered rectangle that screeched upon contact with the floor. Mikado also saw Walker wave briefly at Mikado, to which Mikado bowed his head down slightly.  
>"I haven't seen you both in such a long time!" Erika proclaimed, as she separated herself from Kida and proceeded to hug Mikado instead.<br>"Yeah, I could say the same thing for you guys." Mikado responded. "What are you doing here in Raira Academy?"

Earlier that morning, Izaya was skipping along Ikebukuro's streets, something which he considered a type of morning stroll. It was a new hobby that Izaya adopted, which only took up half an hour on average every day and, at the same time, provided him with an opportunity to carry out his main hobby: observing people. He just loved watching random, unsuspecting people carry out their business. He was like a bird-watcher who observed humans instead of birds. In any case, the blue sky showered a sense of serenity onto the unsuspecting citizens of Ikebukuro, and Izaya was already enjoying his day more than he should have been.  
>However, it wasn't long before Izaya caught sight of two black men in suits and wearing sunglasses. Izaya could also see that one of the men was almost strikingly bald. Nevertheless, the men were waiting outside a rusty grey apartment complex, checking their wrist-watches every so often. Izaya smirked, and the information broker was curious about someone else's business once again. Maybe they were bodyguards or something. But if that were the case, then what were they doing waiting outside a simple apartment complex? Izaya just had to find out. He approached the two men in suits.<br>"So, who would you two be waiting for, then?" One of the men turned around.  
>"Izaya Orihara?" he asked.<br>"I'm sorry?" Izaya tried to sound shocked due to the fact that they somehow knew his name, but he was only intrigued.  
>"We've been waiting for you for quite a while" the other man said. "I'm afraid we need your help"<br>"Uh-huh. You know, you could have just given me a call and I would have been more than happy to help you. After all, I accept any type of clients."  
>Neither of the men said anything, which brought about a few seconds of awkwardness.<br>"So what do you need help with?" said Izaya.  
>"We need you to go to the third room on the second floor, in that inn..."<br>"It's an apartment building"  
>"Fine. We need you to go into that apartment building and convince someone to leave room 203"<br>"Fair enough. But why can't you do that yourself?"  
>"She's not listening to us, and it's probably not the best idea to pull her out of that room by force."<br>Izaya thought for a second.  
>"Does the girl live here?"<br>The non-bald man nodded.  
>"Say, this isn't what I think it is, is it?" Izaya bore a gleeful smile as he looked at the man.<br>"No, it really isn't. Believe me." The man involuntarily scratched his head.  
>"Come on, what do you plan to do with her? I won't tell. How old is she? Do you know her name yet? Remember, I accept any type of clients."<br>Izaya was interrupted by the bald man with sunglasses. They stood about ten centimetres away from each other, and exchanged glares. "Look, we've been hired by the owner of this building for pest inspection. However, the girl that lives in room 203 isn't planning on leaving her apartment, and we can't inspect her flat until she leaves. This isn't in any way what you seem to think it is, it is us trying to do our job and nothing more. Now, do you understand why we need you to help us escort that woman out of her house?"  
>Izaya was mildly amused by how the man tried to make himself seem superior to him. For a while, he pretended to think about the offer. Izaya was certain that everything this man had said was a lie, but he was still very intrigued. This was why Izaya loved being here: you'd never know what would happen next. The information broker walked up to the man and gently patted his bald head. The man shoved Izaya's hand aside in a contained sort of anguish.<br>"You have convinced me. I will go escort your girl out of the building."  
>'Thank you for understanding."<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The apartment complex was painted in an almost numb type of gray, with the occasional white wall spread along the building's exterior. Meanwhile, the stairs which Izaya was supposed to climb now seemed to slope upwards, almost like a man with a broken back trying to ape a cliff wall, and therefore looked inhumanly hard to climb. Izaya flickered his eyes towards the third floor. One of the doors was slightly open, and let out a weird, yellow light. There was no doubt that that was where the secluded girl would be staying. Izaya started surmounting the spiral yet strangely oval-shaped staircase. Every step of the way, however, he was constantly reminded of the threat that this could be a trap. In fact, it was very likely this was a trap, but that was what interested Izaya: the fact that the two men didn't show any signs of trying to hide it. Soon enough, he came across the half-opened door he had seen from ground level, and he gently pulled it open. The yellow light coming from behind it dimmed, and Izaya peeked inside. Even from just outside the doorway, he could see the figure of a young girl in what seemed to be a black maid outfit. Beside her, there was a candle, with a thin tower of smoke rising from its black tip. The yellow light had been completely erased. Izaya could now see the glimmer of a tear, and he had only just walked through the door.

Meanwhile, Shizuo walked down the same streets with his hands in his trouser pockets and a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. Shizuo's eyes followed the thin tower of smoke that reached for the sky into nothingness, and didn't know what to think of it. It was no real concern of his where that trail of smoke was going. Nevertheless, at least he had time to think of those things, today being his day off. Apparently, Tom wasn't working today, so Shizuo had no reason to either. Shizuo grunted inside. He knew he wasn't going to miss his job one little bit. Suddenly, Shizuo bumped his someone. A bald man, wearing sunglasses and a suit was knocked down by Shizuo like a bowling pin. All Shizuo did after that was look at him.

'Watch it!' the man shouted. Shizuo said nothing.

'Hey, you're Shizuo Heiwajima, aren't you?'. Another man in a suit was right behind the man Shizuo had just knocked down. Shizuo pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and shot a blank stare into the man's eyes.

'What about it? What do you need me for?' he said.

'You see, we would like it if you went into that apartment building over there,' The man signalled towards a grey building, and Shizuo's eyes blankly followed it. 'and beat someone up'

There was a moment's silence, which was interrupted by Shizuo chuckling very lightly for a second. 'You think I'm a thug for hire or something, don't you? I don't give a shit what you've heard about me, but you're wasting my time.' Shizuo started walking away from the two men in suits. 'And I have somewhere to be.'

'Izaya Orihara is in there,' said the man on the floor. Shizuo turned his head around and looked straight at the man. His fingers reached out for the rim of his sunglasses, folded the supports and placed it gently in his coat pocket. The second Shizuo opened his eyes, the man saw an undeniable fury scorch his retinas. It had seemed like the world became enveloped in silence for a few, long seconds. For a second, the man thought he saw the corner of Shizuo's mouth fold into a smile.

'What did you just say?' said Shizuo.

'We're up-and-coming artists!'. Erika did a small, turning dance as she said this.

'Really?' Kida said, smiling enthusiastically.

'Yeah, who knew people like us could be famous like that' said Walker, who had finally caught up to Erika now.

'But what are you guys doing here?' Mikado asked.

'We're here for the art exhibition. And maybe the art contest too.' said Walker.

'What do you mean, "maybe" the art contest too? Of course we're going to be there, and we're going to win!'

'Wow, I had actually forgotten it was today.' said Kida in a jarringly enthusiastic way. 'How could I?'

'I only remembered it because Anri said she wanted to go. She says it's an escape from the troubles of everyday life.' said Mikado.

'But, if that's true, how come so many pieces of art are always so dark and broody?' Kida stated, trying his hardest to sound smart.

'I...can't say I know.'

Kida shrugged this off as Mikado being very much like the Mikado he had known since childhood: an absent-minded child.

'Well, in any case,' Kida continued. 'May we see your art?'

'Sure.' Walker pulled down the cloth. It was a painting of a girl in a black maid outfit sitting against a grey wall, emitting some sort of red aura around her. Meanwhile, two men in suits stood right in front of her, with a red aura being emitted from them too. The two men seemed as if they were about to get into a fight. Both Mikado and Kida tried to figure out what this painting meant, and weren't exactly sure what to tell Erika and Walker about what they thought either. So the two of them stared at the painting for quite a few seconds.

'I like it.' The voice startled Kida. Anri was right behind him, and had probably been looking at the painting all this time.

'Yeah, I think I like it too. It's got that "I don't know what" going for it...' said Mikado. He was never really good at lying.

'We called it Girl in Distress.' said Erika.

'Partly because the girl there is in distress.' Walker said.

'And she has magical powers.' Mikado figured this explained why the two men were about to fight.

'Isn't it like that movie that was on last night?' said Anri.

'Sort of.' Walker and Erika both said this at the same time.

'Woah...you saw it too?' said Mikado.

'No. I knew it would give me nightmares if I watched it at the time it was on. Which was midnight.' Mikado felt really stupid now, and was reminded of his own nightmare that spawned from that small B-movie.

'Ah well, good luck on your art exhibition and all. I haven't had breakfast this morning, so I'm starving. See you later, guys.' Kida rushed off faster than Mikado thought he had ever seen Kida do.

'Good luck with your art exhibition. I hope lots of people like your painting' said Mikado, as sincerely as possible, as he was about to follow Kida to the cafeteria.

'Thanks a lot, Mikado' Erika said cheerfully.

'Hey, isn't that the headless rider in the background?' Anri suddenly pointed out. While Mikado, Erika and Walker were talking, Anri seemed to continue observing the painting really closely. All four of them looked at the painting as soon as Anri spoke.

'Yeah, it kinda is,' Mikado said.

On that dark winter night, Celty Sturluson shot through Ikebukuro's streets on her motorcycle like a torpedo. Every citizen that caught of a glimpse couldn't help but stare in awe at the sight of her, in her cat-eared motorcycle helmet and black, leather suit. The second any citizen heard a neigh in the middle of Ikebukuro district, they recognized Celty's presence and looked around for her. She was a true legend, but, at the same time, she was also a complete mystery. There were so many rumours surrounding her, that it drove paranormal theorists through the roof and back. However, there was a truth than what most people perceived to be hers. She was a dullahan from Ireland and, most importantly, she used to have a head. Celty was still searching for her head, even now when all hope of finding it seemed lost. But now that she was in Japan, she needed a job. Unluckily for her, the only job people seemed to want to offer her were underground jobs, such as taking criminal merchandise from Point A to Point B. She was helping the scum of the Earth, but she had no choice and she probably would never have. Well, at least she had a home with an underground doctor, Shinra, and it helped that he was always really good to her.

Suddenly, a human-like figure crossed the empty road ten metres in front of her. Celty jumped in her seat, and her motorcycle went flying forward into the tarmac. Her right shoulder blade scraped against the road, which tore at her leather suit, but she quickly pulled herself up. However, everyone in the area had stopped what they were doing. They were now looking straight at Celty. She could feel the heat of all the headlamps of the cars scorching her from all angles. It was like the world was shining the spotlight on her now. This was when it hit her: she had dropped her helmet, and her lack of a head was exposed. Celty heard a mixture of shrieks amongst the crowd. Terrified, she scrambled along the road for her helmet. It was as if she were caught naked in the middle of the city, with everyone watching and maybe even taking photos. She needed to find her helmet now.

'Is this yours, miss?'. Someone said this right behind Celty. Her head darted behind her, and she could see a girl in a black, maid outfit holding her cat-eared helmet in both her hands. Celty stared at her headless reflection on the visor of the helmet for what seemed like minutes. She had no doubt that this was the girl that she almost ran over, but how could she have survived?


End file.
